US budget deficit grows to $1.3 trillion, the second highest six-month
level on record
[April 11, 2025]
By FATIMA HUSSEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. budget deficit has grown to more than $1.3
trillion in the first half of the 2025 fiscal year — the second highest
six-month deficit on record, according to Treasury Department data
released Thursday.
The deficit for October through March spans the administrations of
President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. The previous high in the
four decades of recordkeeping was $1.7 trillion in the first half of
fiscal year 2021, when the government was tackling the COVID-19
pandemic.
A Treasury official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview
the data said the increased spending was in part due to a mix of
expenditures, including cost of living increases to Social Security
payouts, higher Medicare and Medicaid costs, increased disaster
assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Defense
Department spending.
The widening deficit, which occurs when spending exceeds the amount of
money being raised, comes as the Trump administration has touted a plan
to reduce waste and spending in the federal government through Elon
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE.
It also comes as House Republicans narrowly approved their budget
framework Thursday, which advances $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and seeks
at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to federal programs and services.
DOGE has recommended plans to lay off a large portion of the 2.4 million
members of the civilian federal workforce, eliminate entire agencies,
including the Education Department, and cut other government services.
The new Treasury Department data shows a deficit of $1.307 trillion for
October through March, the first six months of the fiscal year 2025. And
spending is $139 billion more in the first three months of 2025 compared
to the same period last year, with borrowing over that period $41
billion higher.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters outside the
West Wing of the White House, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In the Oval Office on Thursday, Musk said DOGE expected to achieve
$150 billion in savings during the next fiscal year by reducing
waste and fraud, which he described as “very common.” That’s much
lower than his previous target of cutting $1 trillion — a number he
used last month in a Fox News interview.
Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a
Responsible Federal Budget, said Thursday, “The numbers are
undeniable. We are racking up debt at an alarming pace, and it’s
unlikely to end any time soon. In fact, lawmakers seem hellbent on
adding to that sum with trillions of unpaid-for tax cuts and
spending increases.”
“We need to correct the unsustainable course we are on and start
focusing on fixing our nation’s finances before it is too late,”
MacGuineas said.
Tensions remain within the Republican conference about the scope of
the proposed tax and spending cuts. Some want more in tax cuts than
what is in the blueprint, while others want steeper spending cuts.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has frequently spoken about the
need to tamp down on spending.
He told Bloomberg Television earlier this month that the nation
would creep closer to hitting the statutory debt ceiling on the
so-called X-date, as soon as the early summer. "We are going to go
onto the warning track sometime in May or June,” Bessent said.
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Associated Press reporters Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking and Chris
Megerian contributed to this report.
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